8-6-05 Finds

[vic910]

Well, I got brave today and decided to go to a large county park near my house. After getting that Yellowstone citation I figured not much worse could happen. I've been unable to find out what the regulations are around here for the county so I decided that if I had to, I'd find out the hard way. Anyway, I of course hit the playground first. Hunted around the swings in wood chips. Found a twist tie. Great start, huh? Would you believe that the slides and jungle jim are on concrete with astro turf over it?? Started detecting around the picnic tables and slowly gathered a huge following of youngsters. Every time I'd put the detector down to dig something, one of the imps would pick it up and start detecting all over the place. Grrrrrrr. I put up with it for about an hour, then had to leave. I only managed to find two pennies; one a 2004, and the other one is soaking so I can't read the date yet. Found the usual pull tabs, bottle caps, shredded can pieces, a washer, and a large piece of something rusty.

Nobody told me to stop, so I'll be going back again when I can figure out a good time when the pesky imps aren't there. This is a LARGE park, so will take me a long time to detect. At least it's something different than my own yard. LOL

vicki

 

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[Monty]

Vic, try a school. The kids will stay as far away from a school as they can until school starts! JIM

 

[Mighty_Mouse]

I don't know about up there in Orlando but down here in Brooksville kids start school monday. So on sat and sun. hit the schools and mon-fri before 3is hit the parks works from me. And ya got to start somewhere. and trust me when you been hunting for a few hours that penny can seem like gold hehe. HH and stick to it the gold and older finds will come.

 

[vic910]

Thanks for the advice Jimmi and MM. My kids start school on Monday also, but around here the schools are all fenced, gated, and LOCKED!!! Every once in a while I can get into the high school when they leave the gate open on a weekend. I've only gone up there once and the ground was rock hard! I'll have to try it again because we've been getting some rain and maybe that softened it up some. But during the week at the park might be a good idea. There should only be the toddler types around then. The only problem I can think of then is that I'd be more visible to park workers. We'll see. I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks again for the advice.

vicki

 

[Getty]

Vic, try a school.? The kids will stay as far away from a school as they can until school starts!? JIM

Thats good jim! True but good way to look at it.LOL

 

[wmas1960]

What times do you usually detect?

I have found that evenings are starting to get more and more difficult with the days getting shorter. As it is right now, I go out after dinner and get about 2 hours in before it is so dark I can't see what I am digging. I figure that, once dinner is done, some parents will take their kids to the park or let them go there for a short bit before bed, or before it gets dark. Usually about 7 or 7:30 from what I have noticed. It won't be long though till 7 will be too dark in itself. I haven't had much trouble with the kids in my area. So far, at least. The last couple times out, I was out about 20 minutes before some kids came up to the play lot. It was about 7:30. The older kids, pretty much, stay away, A couple guys came up and asked if I was finding anything. I said, a few pennies, some foil, then shrugged my shoulders. They then went and litterally hung around on the jungle jims to chill out from playing some lacrosse. A couple girls just sat up on the slides and shelter area till I left the swings, They then came down and sat there chatting much of the time. Another time, a family came out, again about 7:30 or 7:45. They stayed about 20 minutes. The girls played on the swings causing me to have to pass on about 5 that I was searching. No problem though, there were another 10 in another row accross to still search. Their little brother just stood there and watched as I tried to locate and dig a couple targets.

I am starting to find that evenings are running out. By the time I get out, there is no avoiding that time when kids make their last dash for the play lots. And, as I said, it won't be long before it will be dark then anyways.

The best time that I can actually think of, would be from about sunrise to about 9am. That would be for the public parks away from schools. I would never go search at a school when kids are present during the school year. We don't have the lock down issues here but, when teachers and administrators are present, during the normal work day, would not be a good idea. Note that some schools also allow themselves to be a safe haven, so to speak, for kids before and after school. As long as adults are present, I would consider school to be open and would stay away.

I figure that for the preschoolers and such, by the time the mothers get them up, dressed, fed, get themselves off to work and leave the kids with their nanny or grandma... it will probably be about 9am before they make it to the parks.

I have been thinking of my opportunities once the summer ends. I would consider the school lots off limits due to the school day or darkness. Public parks early in the morning might be good. The beaches after that. Seems that people don't go to the beach much during the day when school is in session. They are either working or in school. Those that aren't are probably adults with their own interests to keep them from thinking about what I am doing. I went down there, a few times in May and found that about 1 to 3pm were good. After that, some kids probably head down there some. Mid day though, The only people I encountered were people picnicing on their lunch hours, taking a walk or little jog along the water, walking the dog.... catching a breather between housekeeping and when the kids get home. Some of the county forest preserves around here could also be good in the middle of the day. That is assuming MDing is permitted. Haven't really looked into it.